


Wishes Come True (Not Free)

by WeShadows



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Especially Vax'ildan, Gen, Mentions of Vox Machina, Violence against trees, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7277752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeShadows/pseuds/WeShadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After his encounter with Vax'ildan and Vox Machina, Kynan Leore left Emon with one goal in mind: to become stronger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wishes Come True (Not Free)

Kynan Leore took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders, and raised his short sword again. His opponent, a tree with a trunk approximately the width of a human, waved gently in the breeze. Kynan lunged forward again, sending chips of wood flying as he stabbed and slashed. He was breathing hard and his arm ached by the time he finally stepped back, leaving a fresh layer of scars on the tree trunk. Stronger. He had to get stronger, that's what Vax'ildan had told him, but no matter how hard he tried to move forward he felt like he was just running in place. He sheathed the sword and dropped to the ground with a sigh, the damaged wood dug into his back when he leaned against the tree. After catching his breath for a minute he drew his sword again and laid it across his knees. The sword was old, the leather grip worn and fraying and the blade scratched and rusted in places. He'd tried to sharpen it, but there were still nicks and chips along the edge. He was worried about what would happen if he tried to use it against anything more dangerous than a tree, but he had to do something. He had to get stronger.

_“Stronger.”_ He startled at the voice, deep and low, almost echoing. The sword almost fell from Kynan's hands. He tightened his grip on the worn hilt and scrambled to his feet.

“Who's there?” He tried to sound brave, to sound like Vax'ildan, but his voice shook. He swallowed hard.

_“You want to be stronger, boy?”_ Kynan spun around, looked behind his tree, but he still saw nothing. Not even a bird or squirrel. There wasn't a breath of wind.

“Who are you!?”

_“Don't you want to be stronger? Don't you want to impress them? Don't you want to prove yourself to him?”_ Kynan swallowed hard as the voice purred in his ear, it sounded like the speaker was behind him but when he spun around again the woods were still empty, if strangely dark.

“I do! Of course I do! But who are you? How do you know?”

_“I know many things. I know how your mother died, how your father mistreated you. How your hero humiliated you in front of his friends. I know how no one has ever believed in you.”_ Kynan pressed his back against the tree, his sword held in front of him.

“So? That's why, that's why I'm training! So I can make them believe in me!”

_“I can give you the strength you seek. Strong enough that no one will ever raise their hand to you again. Strong enough that Vax'ildan must respect you.”_ Kynan's sword dropped slightly.

“How? How would you make me stronger?”

_“I have great power. If I gave you even a small portion of it you could become stronger than even the great Vox Machina.”_

“Stronger than Vox Machina?” Was that even possible? For him? He was just some small nobody from the slums.

_“Stronger than Vox Machina,” _the voice repeated. The low purr reverberated down Kynan's spine. He shivered and his hand fell, his sword dangling limply by his side. “How?”__

_“Simply complete some small tasks for me when I request it and you will have all the power you desire.”_ Kynan looked down at his sword and for a moment it appeared to be a long broadsword, shimmering with magic, glowing like flames as a thick black smoke swirled around his hand and up the blade. He blinked an it was his old, rusty short sword once again. _“Do you wish for strength?”_

__Kynan sheathed his sword and swallowed hard. “Yes.”_ _

__

__Kynan woke with a start, disoriented for a moment as he blinked up at the tree branches above him. He watched them wave in the light breeze, silhouetted by the pre-dawn light, and tried to figure out why he felt strange. Some sort of strange dream, he supposed. Something about a sword, and black smoke… He shook his head to clear it and stood, stretching stiff limbs and trying to rub warmth back into his hands. He would train more, he would become stronger, strong enough to be worthy of Vax'ildan's respect. He looked down as he drew his sword and paused as he noticed a dead patch in the grass at the base of the tree, where he'd been sleeping. He blinked at it for a moment, then shrugged and squared off against the hapless tree once again._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Demons are hard to kill completely, that's all I'm saying.


End file.
